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Oil in Oklahoma: Tulsa TV 50 years ago

I have finally gotten around to reading Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, in anticipation of the Martin Scorsese film to be released in October. I'm about halfway through, and I was skimming ahead. (It's OK. I already knew who the bad guys were.) I was surprised to...

Posted by Michael Bates on July 8, 2023 11:54 PM

Tulsa, May 1921: Moescha Rosenberg sues Sinclair

In 1921, Tulsa jeweler Moescha Rosenberg sued his landlord, the Sinclair Oil & Gas Co., for harassing him to get him to surrender his 10-year lease on a prime retail location.

Posted by Michael Bates on May 13, 2021 12:48 PM

Bob Gregory, Oklahoma broadcaster and historian, RIP

Legendary Tulsa television broadcaster Bob Gregory died earlier this month, November 6, 2019, at the age of 88. As Vice President for News and Special Projects at KTUL, Gregory wrote, directed, and hosted the popular series of "Oil in Oklahoma" television programs, which aired throughout the 1970s and into the...

Posted by Michael Bates on November 23, 2019 9:40 AM

Early Oklahoma in the archives

Here are some interesting publications relating to early-day Oklahoma on the websites of the National Archives and the Internet Archive. The National Archives has an online sample of documents from their Center for Legislative Archives about Oklahoma's path to statehood including: Survey Map of Oklahoma and Indian Territory showing distances,...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 10, 2009 9:43 PM

Planning Tulsa's Riverfront: A Brief History

This is the originally submitted version of a story that was published on January 31, 2007 as the cover story of the February 1-7, 2007, edition of Urban Tulsa Weekly, under the headline "The River Review: Planning Tulsa's Riverfront: A Brief History." The story as published can be found on...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 31, 2007 10:13 PM

Bates Motel really existed (sort of), right here in Tulsa

(Image originally from AlanOfTulsa on fotothing.com; direct link to photo.) One more Route 66 related entry. Someone called alanoftulsa posted this postcard with the following info on the TulsaNow forum. The doings at cousin Norman's place almost sound tame compared to the real-life Bates Tourist Hotel. Because of the conditions...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 14, 2006 11:41 PM